Monday, September 2, 2013

September 2- Ashland to Fredericksburg, Va.

An excellent hotel breakfast kept us from an early start.

Once on the road, we retraced about 10 miles from yesterday's route, and finally left the Transamerica Bike Route and headed north on the Atlantic Coast Route. Kentucky and Virginia have marked the bike routes (Transam is 76, Atlantic Coast is 1) with signs at almost every turn, and the signs are very helpful. We hope all states follow suit.

We rode about 40 miles through rolling country. Not many farms in this area. No tobacco, a few cornfields, and a few more soybean fields. Many country homes.

After a lunch stop at a KOA, we hit the steepest hill of the whole summer: 19%! We almost ground to a halt but we did top the short hill, feeling a little shattered. Other than that and a few lesser sharp hills, the terrain is settling down to gentle rolling countryside.

Approaching Fredericksburg, we rode through the Civil War battlefield of the same name. Early in the war the Union army tried to cross the Rappahannock River here and storm the heights behind the city where Lee's forces were entrenched. The Union forces were slaughtered. Something like 20,000 men were killed that one day.

At Fredericksburg, after about 60 miles for the day, the lodging choices were limited, and we ended up at a luxurious Marriott in the historic district. Our room is comfortable and large, but not as large as the dance hall upstairs from the fire station where we slept night before last.

Our plan is to end our ride at Alexandria on Wednesday.

1 comment:

  1. Sandy, Dennis -

    You met me and my son, Alex, in eastern Kansas a few weeks back. We were also heading east. Congratulations!

    We live in Alexandria so...
    -let me know when you expect to finish riding and where (Old Town / wharf?) and I will try to come to cheer for you!
    -if you need a place to spend the night in Alexandria - let me know - we can host you.

    Email or call wolz at forum one dot com, or 703, 597 4969

    Chris
    http://wolzbikers.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete